Cambridge-based scientists develop 'superwheat'

BBC News, 12 May 2013

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The scientists transferred some of the
 resilience of the ancient ancestor of wheat
into modern varieties

British scientists say they have developed a new type of wheat which could increase productivity by 30%.

The Cambridge-based National Institute of Agricultural Botany has combined an ancient ancestor of wheat with a modern variety to produce a new strain.

In early trials, the resulting crop seemed bigger and stronger than the current modern wheat varieties.

It will take at least five years of tests and regulatory approval before it is harvested by farmers.

Some farmers, however, are urging new initiatives between the food industry, scientists and government.

They believe the regulatory process needs to be speeded up to ensure that the global food security demands of the next few decades can be met, says the BBC's Tom Heap.

Primitive grains

One in five of all the calories consumed round the world come from wheat.

But despite steady improvement in the late 20th century, the last 15 years have seen little growth in the average wheat harvest from each acre in Britain.

Just last month, cereal maker Weetabix announced that it would have to scale back production of some of its products due to a poor wheat harvest in the UK.

Now British scientists think they may have found the answer to increasing productivity again.

Around 10,000 years ago wheat evolved from goat grass and other primitive grains.

The scientists used cross-pollination and seed embryo transfer technology to transfer some of the resilience of the ancient ancestor of wheat into modern British varieties.

The process required no genetic modification of the crops.

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Q&A with Pepper and Gaia - May 21, 2011

Springtime is here, at least in this part of the world. Can you update us on how the honeybees are doing - is Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) still on the rise? - Elisabeth M. Salzburg, Austria

"Bee and other pollinator populations have been in decline for decades, particularly on the North American continent. Colony Collapse Disorder is a sophisticated name, but it basically describes an inability on the part of pollinators to adjust to large-scale agriculture as quickly as humanity would prefer. No specific disease or affliction will be identified, though many will be suggested. Declines will continue, but at a less alarming rate. Other agricultural issues will soon present more alarming problems and farming in general will be challenged for the foreseeable future. Smaller farming concerns will suggest a return to a more moderate crop yield, but this will not feed a hungry world. Nearly half of the world's harvestable food supply is lost each year, most of it due to less than favorable techniques and delivery of such precious resources. Innovations in the field of landscape management will eventually heal the rift between man and nature and bounty will return."

~ Gaia